A section of Perumbakkam wetland, the one along the Classic Farm Main Road and a short distance from the kuccha road that forms the wetland’s western bounds, was burnt to a cinder in a fire that started on Thursday night and raged on through Friday, which had fire-tender vehicles scurrying to the site, one from Medavakkam fire station and another from Thoraipakkam fire station.
On Saturday, when the ashes had settled down, black kites put up a spectacle. There was obviously burnt flesh and even burnt eggs (this section supports resident ground-nesting birds) and the black kites were on to it. In characteristic style, they were doing sorties over the soot-coloured patch and making targetted forays on noticing burnt flesh or eggs.
The image taken on June 1 shows a juvenile black kite descending on the burnt area having spotted “cooked food”.